Despite getting his first starting nod this week, not much has
changed for cornerback Trey Brown. A redshirt freshman, Brown
received his first significant playing time last Saturday against
Arizona State. Impressing the coaches, he played well enough to
earn the start this week over Marcus Cassel, but Brown says
everything is still business as usual. “I take every game as
if I was starting ““ even if I’m not the starter, I want
to be ready if they call my number,” Brown said. “Only
now I will be starting, but I have to prepare the same way as I
would any day.” The question as to who would step up and
claim the left cornerback position has been unresolved for several
weeks now. While three weeks ago it was Cassel’s job to lose,
the junior was benched two weeks ago against California and
replaced by true freshman Rodney Van. Even though Cassel started
against Arizona State this past weekend, he was taken out again,
this time early in the first quarter and was replaced by Brown. The
freshman immediately responded by intercepting Sun Devil
quarterback Andrew Walter near the end of the first half that led
directly to a Justin Medlock field goal. The Bruin coaching staff
said it had been looking to give Brown some playing time after the
freshman performed well in practice. “Trey Brown is a guy
we’ve always had a lot of confidence in, and it was just his
turn to get a real shot at it,” defensive coordinator Larry
Kerr said. “We didn’t know it was going to be that
extensive, but he went in there and made some plays.” Despite
getting beat downfield on a hitch-and-run play that led to a Sun
Devil touchdown, Brown showed the coaching staff a strong enough
performance to warrant him another chance ““ this time as a
starter. “What he did this weekend really gave him some good
experience and showed us he can make plays,” Kerr said.
“If he hadn’t played as well as he did, someone else
would have gotten that opportunity. We think he played well enough
to keep him in there.” Currently on the depth chart, Cassel
is behind Brown, while Van has been moved over to right corner and
is listed behind current starter Matt Clark. But still, the issues
at left cornerback remain up in the air. There is a possibility
that Cassel or Van could make another appearance at the position,
although Brown wants to make the most of his chance. “I had
goals for myself, as far as coming in and playing as soon as
possible,” he said. “So now that I am, I want to take
advantage of that as much as possible.”
INJURY UPDATE: Safety Dennis Keyes was back out
practicing Tuesday after hurting his shoulder and neck several
weeks ago. Tests came back negative and coach Karl Dorrell said he
should get some playing time this weekend against Stanford. Ahead
of schedule after hurting his ankle two weeks ago, defensive tackle
Justin Hickman practiced Tuesday and will likely play Saturday as
well. Receiver Brandon Breazell suffered a dislocated thumb in
practice and will have an X-ray preformed on it today, but Dorrell
said he didn’t think it was serious.